Lisbon, Portugal — Overview
Lisbon boasts a superb natural setting, tumbling down from seven lofty hills before reaching the banks of the River Tagus. The Portuguese capital is a cool, cosmopolitan and creative city, marrying the historic with the modern, the traditional with the cutting edge. Lisbon is at its best on languorous summer evenings, when the pavement cafes and riverside restaurants bustle with life. Lisbon's new Golden Age began in 1994, when it was proclaimed European City of Culture. It was followed by the World Expo in 1998 for which Lisbon managed to squeeze both the central government and the European Union for financial backing. This led to a new bridge across the River Tagus, a major expansion of the crumbling metro system and the massive redevelopment of the Expo site, the Parque das Nações, now a major visitor attraction. In 2004 Lisbon hosted the successful European Football Championships and prestigious MTV Europe Music Awards the following year, helping to stamp itself firmly on the rising Euro star map.
